


A Price Paid, A Favor Owed

by FantasyPunchPunk



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AND surprise of surprises, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, FRIENDSHIPS INCLUDE, Keith & Lance (Voltron) - Freeform, Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Keith & Reader - Freeform, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) - Freeform, Lotor & Reader - Freeform, Lotor's Generals & Reader, M/M, Multi, RELATIONSHIPS INCLUDE, Reader-Insert, Shatt, The Garrison Trio (Voltron), Up in the air at this point, and, and WOW that was word vomit, and fucking things up, and so are your feels, and then my favorite, and whoever i decide to put the reader with, as featured above, as in, because i believe in, canon is susceptible, dun dun dun, friends before lovers, gasp what, i am ELATED that that is a tag, i think, if you were a who knows how old deity like being, im a good writer i swear, in fact this works even better in my story, in light of shiro's sexuality, is Friendship, klance, oh well, please dont let that dissuade you, shit that's a spoiler innit, so basically main pairing, that should be a tag, the name of the game, the universe is susceptible, what would happen, who likes to meddle, whomst i also love very dearly, why isnt that a tag its practically a trademark at this point, yes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-03-17 19:47:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13666059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FantasyPunchPunk/pseuds/FantasyPunchPunk
Summary: Changing forms? Easy. Traveling through the empty vacuum of space unaided? Easy. Hopping universesandrealities? Easy.What's not easy? Keeping these five humans unharmed in the wake of an intergalactic war. And for some reason, the number of beings you want to keep safe just keeps rising. Why, oh why, did you decide to get attached? Oh yeah, because of a pretty, lonely face and you haven't had this much fun in millennia.Sidenote: FUCK THE FUCKING CANON ENDING I'M CHERRYPICKING WHAT I LIKE AND MAKING MY OWN FUCKING ENDING AAAAHHHH





	1. Ties On Earth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DOn't call her a mary-sue she's not a mary-sue I swear she has flaws and limits I just want you guys to like her so I'm showcasing all her good qualities first
> 
> And thanks to the klanceficcatalogue discord server for supporting me and inspiring me to actually post this and not let it rot in my notebook forever

You don’t like the desert.

Sand sucks and the heat is downright oppressive when you don’t have water that you can swim in nearby, so it’s a wonder that you’re here, really, but you have this stupid philosophy. And it’s done you more good than you care to admit so you stick to it.

Do it if only for the experience.

...So you’re in a desert. Admittedly one of the nicer deserts that you know of, on one of the out-of-the-way realities on a lackluster planet, so you’re not in danger of being eaten immediately, which is always good.

But the sun, man. The sun is out to get you.

It’s been a few hours since you’ve lifted your eyes from the sand so you look up, hoping to see a lizard or a cactus or something vaguely interesting and your wish is granted.

A building. A really big, squarish, building with solar panels on the roof and some stick-y up-y parts on the top with a giant wall around the whole thing. Just inside the wall are a bunch of four-wheeler vehicles that look like they would be a lot of fun to take for a joyride.

...Idea to consider.

But, hey! A building means  _ inhabitants! _ Which means  _ food! _ And who knows? They might even be interesting! (Both the food and the inhabitants.)

Smiling, you give up your solid form for an incorporeal one and float the rest of the way. Screw walking, you’ve had enough of that to last you a year.

~

Keith is alone again.

Shiro can only spend so much time with someone younger than him and Keith doesn’t begrudge him that. He’s kinda thankful, actually, because Shiro acts like what Keith imagines his father would if he was still around. All concern and corny jokes and just… patronizing.

He’s grateful to be alone sometimes.

But in that gratefulness, that relief, there’s always that little bit of sadness.

Shiro has friends his own age, even though he probably patronizes them too, so why doesn’t Keith?

I mean, sure, he knows that he can come off as a little aggressive and awkwardly surly but no one even gives him a chance. They want to avoid him and whisper about his accomplishments (yell about, in the case of that one kid) more than they want to get to know him.

Rather than make them go through all that trouble, he’ll just take his dinner somewhere he can be… alone.

He sits down in one of the deserted corridors in an out-of-the-way hallway and leans against the wall with a sigh. He looks down at his plate and sighs even harder. “Great, applesauce.”

“Hey, if you don’t want it, I’ll take it.”

Keith’s head snaps up.

Against the wall across from him, a girl sits casually, legs stretched out in front of her. She gives him a smile and a wave.

His brow furrows. “When did you get here?”

Her eyes are glued to the applesauce. “This hallway or this planet?”

“Very funny.”

She shrugs, looking up and around like she’s never been inside the Garrison before. Keith takes a closer look at her. Manicured nails, no eyebags, hopeful eyes…

“You’re a new recruit, aren’t you?”

Her eyes flick to him before they go back to trailing over the walls and ceiling like they’re alien. “Yup, you could say that.” When she doesn’t say anything else, Keith worries that he unintentionally sounded rude, but then, “So, you gonna eat that?”

He jumps, and then follows her eyes down to his applesauce. “Oh, no. Here,” He hands her the cup and the little spoon that came with it.

“Thanks,” She closes her eyes and sighs when she takes a bite.

Keith looks down to his own food. “Sure.”

He eats, looking up at her every now and then, waiting for her to leave now that she has what she wants but she doesn’t get up and leave him alone. As a matter of fact, she looks pretty happy to just sit there and eat the applesauce he doesn’t want. She’s enthusiastic, really, and ends up finishing before him. Bound to happen with her only having one thing and he having an entire meal.

She sets her empty cup and spoon aside and considers him.

Keith tries not to let it show that it bothers him.

“So. Why aren’t you with everyone else?”

Keith freezes with his fork halfway to his mouth. “Huh?”

“Not to be rude, sorry. Just curious.”

He slowly sets his fork down on his tray where it lands with a small clatter. “Figured I would just… give everyone a break from having to deal with me,” he tells her truthfully, compelled by that strange force that tells you it’s okay to divulge secrets to a stranger.

“Hmm… sounds lonely.”

He averts his gaze from eyes that seem all too knowing. “I like being alone.”

“That’s a lie.”

His head snaps up.

Her eyes are trained on him, her hands folded into her lap. She smiles. “Besides, aren’t I a much better option than being alone?”

Keith looks down at his food, thinking. “Yeah… Yeah, I guess you are.”

“You  _ guess _ ? That’s hurtful.”

He huffs a laugh and she smiles.

~

So you end up staying because of a cute guy, so sue you. What would you do if you came across a stupidly attractive person sitting by themselves all sad and they tell you that they basically don’t have any friends?

. . . 

Well, who asked you anyway?!

And in any case, this building is so cool~! It’s all tech-y and shiny and you spend the time you’re not with Keith exploring.

Again, you’ve seen better and worse on other planets (and realities) but it’s still fun to figure stuff out.  _ And _ the best part about it is the people. Seeing them seamlessly interact with the things and people they’re familiar with.

Watching them, you get a pretty good idea of why Keith is on his own most of the time, but you don’t hold it against him. It’s not that strange to you, who’s studied and interacted with so many cultures that anyone outside of one planet’s societal norm is hardly shocking to you.

One day, Keith spends his lunch with a friend of his called Shiro, so you take that time to explore some more (after stealing some stuff from the commissary). You’re in your incorporeal, hardly visible form as you wander.

You’ve really only showed yourself to Keith, and subsequently Shiro since he introduced you two before he went off with him, because you’re wary about revealing your existence to anyone else. You’re not stupid. You  _ know _ this is a military facility. And when any type of government structure gets a hold of something they can’t explain, i.e.  _ you _ ? Torture interrogation and/or experimentation is to be expected. At least now it is. You decide to help a promising civilization  _ one time _ … Never again.

So you can’t trust the students that are training to become loyal parts of this military, this part of the government, with knowledge of your existence. Even Keith doesn’t know exactly  _ what _ you are, even if he knows your name, and he thinks you’re a student just like him thanks to you transforming your clothes into the school’s (frankly hideously orange) uniform. And truthfully, that  _ should _ be all you need to go unnoticed, but.

All it takes is for  _ one person _ to take interest and start asking questions.

Which, you know, you really should’ve expected since you decided to go around pulling pranks on unsuspecting students while invisible.

...You have poor impulse control, okay?

~

“Guys, I swear to you on my Abuela’s cooking that the Garrison is haunted.”

Hunk points at Lance warningly. “Don’t make light of your grandmother’s cooking. That woman is a genius in the kitchen.”

“Dude, that’s how serious I am!” He glares around at the hall they’re all walking down to get to simulation training with heavy suspicion. “You guys have heard the rumors, right?”

“Rumors?” Pidge scoffs, “That’s what you’ve basing this off of?”

“Hey, don’t diss word of mouth. It’s been around probably way longer than any ‘fact’ has been written.”

Hunk utters a vocable that conveys his reluctant agreement. “Lance has got a point,” he says. “I mean, even myths have some kind of truth to them. I mean, I hope they do, otherwise a lot of people have been having the same huge delusion.”

“And see,  _ that’s _ why it’s not scientific. You’re letting your wants interfere with your logical reasoning. Theory. Data, a lot of it. Confirmed fact. That’s the process. Nowhere in there is there anything about hope.”

“Isn’t a theory developed from the hope of having it proved true?” Hunk asks, shrugging and lifting his hands up in a gesture of no offense when Pidge then glares at him.

“Yeah, Pidge, come on. Don’t be so close-minded about this.”

“I’m not being close-minded, I’m being logical.” He rolls his eyes before he looks forward again. “The only way I would give any thought to this is if  _ actual evidence _ made itself kno--”

A large bang echoes from the walls around them, loud enough to startle Pidge into silence.

The lights flicker and go out for a second. When they come back on everything it touches has a hazy silvery ethereal sheen to it.

“ _ Pidge, _ ” a reedy voice whispers, right next to all of their ears and ringing out from the hall behind them. “ _ It’s time to open your mind. _ ”

A sharp gust comes out of nowhere to cut through them and it chills them to the bone like an icy blade.

The lights shut off and come back on again, no otherworldly look to them at all like nothing’s happened.

The three cadets are frozen in place where they first stopped in surprise, now shocked and agog.

Lance is the first to snap out of it, looking down at his young friend with a smirk. “Told ya.”

~

To be fair, you only heard from “Come on, Pidge, be more open-minded” but yeah, no impulse control. So now you have a trio of government pups dogging your every step every time you try to do anything fun.

No, you are not pouting, shut up.

Your name is called and you look up. Keith is eating lunch, sitting on the floor across from you in what you have fondly dubbed ‘your corridor’. He’s looking at you with this face that’s a mix between constipated and surly that you know is his version of concern.

“What’s wrong? You’re pouting.”

You scowl. “Shut up. No, I’m not.”

He shrugs and goes back to eating, obviously still worried but surprisingly perceptive of your need to have the subject drop. Having your own meal this time, you go back to eating too, but your eyes slowly return to him as your thoughts wander along a similar tangent.

You’re starting to be noticed here, as you are wont to be, no matter where you end up. And normally this would be your clue to find somewhere new, but… Keith. This wonderful, lonely boy who you selfishly befriended. If you leave, will he go back to being friendless?

“Oh my god, it’s him,” it’s said so quietly from so far away no normal being would register it, but you’ve never been accused of being normal and go stiff at the quiet whisper.

Keith, instinctive person he is, looks up at your flinch and then down the corridor when footsteps echo towards you both.

You disappear as soon as he looks away. Taking your food with you, of course.

“If it isn’t Kogane,” The tall boy looks Keith up and down. “Nice to finally meet the guy to beat.” His voice is full of false bravado and  _ why does it sound so familiar? _

Keith lifts a brow. “I… guess?” He looks back to give you a questioning look but pauses in surprise when he sees you’re gone.

The other boy looks over Keith’s shoulder too. “What are you looking at?”

“Uh, nothing. I guess.”

The boy spots Keith’s lunch and then looks around the empty corridor. “Hey, you’re not eating alone, are you?”

“No,” Keith answers, completely truthful.

The boy throws another look around the corridor and raises a doubtful eyebrow at Keith, “Riiiight,” He puts his hands in his pockets. “Look, Ko-” He hesitates, and darts his blue eyes between Keith’s grey-violet ones. “Keith,” he tests, and continues when Keith doesn’t protest. “If you’d like, you can come and eat with me and my friends.”

Keith’s eyebrows disappear partially beneath his fringe. “You want me to have lunch with you?”

“And my friends!” the boy blurts hurriedly, flushing.

Keith frowns unsurely and looks away from the boy to where you were sitting just before.

You’re still there, though invisible, and see this. You gently prompt him into accepting by lightly nudging him by his shoulder towards the other boy.

Keith startles at the gentle pressure and looks down at the shoulder you touched for a long moment before he turns to the boy. “...Yeah, okay,” His lips quirk into a sheepishly anticipatory half smile. “Thanks for inviting me.”

The tips of the boy’s ears turn pink and his voice rises a couple octaves. “Sure, of course!” He nervously clears his throat and offers a hand and a suave smile. “The name’s Lance, by the way.”

Keith takes the proffered hand and pulls himself up, scooping up his tray too. “Lance, huh? Good to know you.”

“Yeah, you too.” They walk down the corridor, hands no longer clasped but still close.

...Alright-y then.

Smiling happily, you open a rift at random and leave Earth.

A hallway away, a device in Lance’s pocket starts to beep furiously and Keith’s attention is drawn to it. “What’s that?”

“Oh,” Lance pulls it out. It’s rectangular, and has a meter with the needle leaning all the way into the red, jittering excitedly. “It’s this thing Pidge, one of my friends, made. He sent me to go collect some readings where he got a few blips before.”

“We can go do that before we go to the canteen, if you want.”

“Nah,” Lance waves the suggestion off, “Besides, the place he wanted me to check was the corridor you were in, actually, and it didn’t go off then.”

~

The place you step out in is dark and cool, cold actually, and though you prefer warmth, at least it’s not the sweltering heat of the desert. The dark grey metal that makes up the walls around you is highlighted by a muted purple lighting.

“Atmospheric,” you hum, and then your eyes land on the window full of stars beside you. Like always, they ensnare your regard and your entire being calms at the sight of them. No matter their distance or configuration, stars will always be one of your favorite things about traveling the cosmos.

Their beauty is so entrancing that you don’t even sense the person approaching until the blaster whines with a ready charge right by your head. Not looking away from the stars, you slowly raise your hands in surrender.

“Prince Lotor would like to speak to you,” a feminine voice hums in amusement.

**End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characters of Voltron: Legendary Defender belong to Dreamworks and in no way are mine, I just wanted to borrow them for a bit.
> 
> If you ask me questions I'll babble at you so leave a comment and watch me make a fool of myself.


	2. Legends Born

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heeeeey! Welcome back. There's a gun pointed at your head, just to let you know. M'kay, off ya go!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S LOTOR 
> 
> get _hyped_

"How did you get aboard this ship?" the purple being with long white hair in the captain's chair drawls.

"Ummm... Would you believe Uber?" your tone is full of sarcasm.

You let the butt of the blaster hit you in the back of the head and allow the pain to bloom across your crown, hissing out a breath through your teeth.

The purple guy holds up a hand and the armed warrior that hit you steps back with a barely audible grumble.

"I find it hard to believe that a creature like you could survive the vacuum of space with garb like that," You look up through your hair to see him eyeing the painfully orange Garrison uniform. "It looks rather like a military uniform than functional space-wear."

"Yeaaah," you chuckle. "Not mine, actually." He raises an eyebrow. You shrug, "Had to borrow it." The design, at least.

He eyes you. "You're a spy then."

"Weeeell..." You _were_ hiding out in a government facility without their knowledge of your presence, so.

"And what _exactly_ did you hope to gain from boarding this vessel?"

You roll your eyes up to the ceiling contemplatively. "To do some stargazing?"

That same warrior from before steps forward threateningly and you actually flinch away from her because, while you could prevent any of her blows from landing, you'd like to feign feebleness for a bit longer and that means actually taking her ridiculously strong blows, which you try to talk her out of, "No, seriously! Didn't know this was your ship, just wanted to get from where I was to somewhere new and I ended up right where that other woman found me and I wanted to look at the stars," you rush out.

The purple guy holds up his hand again and the warrior steps back with a frustrated huff. "Ended up here, how?"

"Um..." You shift a little to get more comfortable. A feat with your hands and feet bound together. "Ever hear of wormholes?"

He raises an unimpressed eyebrow.

"Right, okay. Ever heard of the quantum desire theory?" His brow furrows and you brighten. "Alright, then that means you haven't heard of the quantum need theory either. The short version is that if you desire something enough, it produces enough quantum energy to bring about what you wish in reality. Same basic principle except with what you _need_ for the second. But keep in mind that these are just theories," You gesture as best you can in your bonds. "Despite that though, I've learned to harness them and combine them with my ability to open wormholes." You grin proudly, blood staining a couple teeth.

He levels an unimpressed look at you and props his chin in his hand. "You have the ability to open wormholes?" his voice drips with disbelief.

"Yup," you pop the p. "Which means I can do this."

The floor opens up beneath you and swallows you whole.

All four of the purple guy's, Lotor's, that's right his name is Lotor, underlings aim their blasters first at where you disappeared and then at random places around the room. Lotor himself is now sitting up straight, looking at the place you were just submissively tied up in in disbelief that's slowly transforming into rage.

You take out the quiet one first, and her limp form hitting the floor with a solid thump has them all turning and you take out the one with camouflage abilities, the one that snuck up on you in the first place, quickly after. You take out the one with considerable strength with a, you'll admit it, particularly vicious drop-kick to the top of the head and the last goes down soon after, still trying to locate you while invisible.

Lotor is now standing from his seat as he stares down at his subdued subordinates.

Quiet as the grave, you slip your arms around his neck from behind, the fingers of one hand pressed to his neck and heating the skin there just hot enough to be a warning, and he goes still under your touch.

"Now," you hum contentedly into his pointed ear, "The question is, why does the universe think I need to be with you?"

Lotor is very still under your hand but his pulse under your fingers is steady, if not a bit quick. "...Do you know who I am?"

Out of his sight, you tilt your head. "Lotor, the handsome purple alien?"

The side of his face moves and you can hear the prideful smirk in his voice, "I am Prince Lotor of the Galra Empire."

You wait for him to elaborate, and roll your eyes when he doesn't. "And?"

He somehow manages to become even more still. "You do not know about the Galra Empire?"

"Should I?"

"Not if you're from an uncivilized backwater planet, I suppose."

You pout and increase the temperature your fingers radiate. "Mean."

He reflexively flinches away from your fingers and backs into you but you keep your hold on him, so he hisses a strained, "Apologies." Appeased, you let your fingers regulate back into warm but tolerable temperature.

"So, explain it to me as if I'm from one of these uncivilized, backwater planets," Or a different reality. "What's the importance of the galra empire?" You tap your fingers in sequence along his neck, giving him a ticking clock.

"The Galra are the strongest race to be found anywhere and are the rightful rulers of the universe... if you believe my father."

You pause your tapping. "...And what do you believe?"

"That if we are to remain ruling, we can't go on as a dictatorship."

"What should you go on as, then?" you ask with casual surprise, like you can't possibly imagine a universe without _dictatorship_. Pssh, more like 'dick'tatorship.

"A democracy, of course," he scoffs, assuming you know what that is. You do. "But with a helpful guiding hand from us."

You narrow your eyes at a nearby wall and pay no attention to the slowly rousing women on the floor. They see you and Lotor, and the threatening position you have him in, but as they move to his aid he gives them a signal you don't see and they remain where they are, carefully watching the two of you. You keep the hand on Lotor's throat as you turn him by his shoulder with the free one and then you move it to his pointed chin, angling his head down so you can stare directly into his eyes.

You hum in consideration. "You have good intentions... if they aren't a little skewed," He raises a brow and you purse your lips in thought. "Alright, I'll give you a deal. My services... in return for you listening to my advice when I give it."

That one brow rises higher. "Your advice?"

You smile mischievously and make your eyes flash with rainbows of color, some of them not even known in this universe or even registerable to some species' optical range. "I've seen a lot in my time, Lotor. And it's a waste not to share the lessons of my experience. Now," you drawl temptingly. "The question is if you're foolish enough to squander this opportunity."

He narrows his eyes at you, both of your faces uncomfortably close and challenge written across each of them.

He finally cracks. "What is your name?"

You tell him obediently. Hopefully, this time you won't regret advising someone with military ties.

~

Keith has friends.

Lance, Hunk, and Pidge.

He eats with them, he hangs out with them, gripes about homework and teachers with them. Keith even tells them he's an orphan and Pidge tells them all that she (because she is she) is Mat Holt's little sister and came up with a new identity just so she could truly make a name for herself and not be coddled along because of her brother and father's merits. He tells her he would've done the same if Shiro's word weren't the only way he could have a place here and he laughs at Lance's disbelief and Hunk's admission that he knew the whole time (about her gender, not about who she was related to, that was incredibly cool in a totally nonchalant way).

Shiro is over the moon about it, literally, too, relieved Keith will have people here for him when he's on Kerberos with Pidge's brother and father (He knows because the two won't stop gushing about how proud they are of Pidge's progress all on her own.)

And then the crew to the Kerberos flight is pronounced dead.

Both Keith and Pidge are kicked out of the Garrison for their resulting behavior at the reports, and the only reason Lance isn't kicked out with them for passionately sticking up for his friends even when it means disagreeing with a senior officer is because Hunk has the sense to hold him back ("Keith and Pidge need us to get them information about the Kerberos mission, Lance.") so he bites his tongue until it bleeds.

Keith drags Pidge to his father's old shack that he remembers isn't too far from the base after she tells her mother she's going to keep looking for their family and something out in the desert starts to call him.

He begins to take long walks out there, in the day during sweltering heatwaves and late at night past the witching hour with bags under his eyes and the cold wind biting at his nose and ears. Pidge doesn't pay the walks much mind as she's occupied with her satellite listening device, until Keith starts making his board.

They both work on it for hours upon hours and then days upon days at a time, sometimes forgetting to eat, or even get food, but when that happens there's always a mysterious box of the supplies they need right on their doorstep, a long-forgotten ghost energy meter buried in Pidge's things beeping muffled and unnoticed, and they write it off as Hunk's kindness.

The next time Lance and Hunk sneak out to visit, Pidge and Keith show them the board and then Keith leads them all to a cave where the carvings tell them that something is coming _tonight_. They all wait around the shack until Keith runs in telling them something just crashed near the Garrison.

They all ride Keith's hoverbike out to the site and rescue a scarred and metal-armed Shiro from the Garrison's white coats and the next day they all find the Blue Lion thanks to Hunk recognizing the Fraunhofer line and see Voltron in their mind's eye.

It's only when Lance is piloting them all through the portal and away from the giant scary ship full of the aliens that took Shiro and Pidge's family that Keith finally remembers the girl in the corridor and wonders when he forgot about her.

And whether or not she'll miss him.

~

Legends were something that never changed, no matter where you went.

Someone unbeatable, unimaginable, untamable accomplishing terrible, amazing, miraculous things. The stories are handed down generations through time, inspiring religion, teaching lessons, instilling hope. You've lost count of just how many you've heard, but you've noticed something. Legends about objects, the some _thing_ unbeatable, unimaginable, untamable, are so much rarer than legends about people. And legends about people _and_ objects together? Practically unheard of. And so much more awe-inspiring (at least for you) for it.

So when you hear a whisper about Voltron while doing an errand for Lotor, well.

You _did_ say you have no impulse control, right?

You had still been keeping an eye on Keith, your now not-so-lonely friend, ever since Lotor had given you enough leeway to go off on your own, which was pretty much directly after you struck your deal because the idea of someone keeping you on any kind of leash you don't want is _laughable_. You had even developed an amusement-tinged fondness for his little roommate Pidge and her brilliant little devices while keeping an eye on them _like you said before, so stop thinking stalking, shut up._

You had even taken to listening to the transmissions she picked up with her, and then you heard the word Voltron and watched her write it down, but you had also heard what she wouldn't recognize in the galran language: _Retrieve the Blue Lion of Voltron from uncolonized third planet of the Sol system._

Voltron, Voltron, Voltron. That word just wouldn't leave your thoughts alone. And you can just _hear_ the capital letters on _Blue Lion_ , what is it? Why is it important? Of Voltron? What does that mean? And then the most important question.

Why do the galra know what this star system is called?

So, so many questions... but who to ask? Which to ask first?

You fall out of the air to sprawl comfortably in the galran prince's lap and hand him the drive containing the information he wanted from one of Zarkon's Generals' ship. He raises a brow at where you've chosen to settle yourself but takes the drive without comment and inserts it where he can pull up the information in holo-projections in front of him and looks through it without making a move to dislodge you.

You let him work in peace for a while, then hum, "Lotor?"

He glances at you then returns his eyes to his work. "Yes?"

"Tell me a legend. What is Voltron?"

He tells you it's a child's tale, a farce made up by Zarkon to garner sympathy from the galra while simultaneously painting himself as some sort of hero. With a little more prompting, he tells you of it's true form when all it's parts work in harmony and these five parts were robotic lions of different colors. Black, Red, Green, Yellow... and Blue.

You hum in contemplation and thank him for the story, _cheek_ -ily smacking a kiss to his face (get it?), and then retreat to your quarters to mull this new information over.

When you next leave them it's not to report for another errand that Lotor has for you, it's to go and see your favorite humans! ...That are not in the shack when you get there. You don't panic. Not then, and not even when you don't find them out wandering the desert. You haven't forgotten the existence of Lance and Hunk and know about their ongoing connection to the Garrison. Maybe Keith and Pidge snuck back there somehow and are with them. You search every hallway, classroom, training room, and restricted area, and _then_ when you don't find any of them, you panic.

It's a controlled panic that still lets you get shit done so you immediately think of a solution, casting out tendrils to search for any trace of the four of them. Lance and Hunk's trails lead back to the shack where they meet up with Pidge and Keith's, and all of them lead out into an area near the Garrison where you're surprised to find traces of... Shiro? Is that him? So much change, and wh _y is there traces of galra on him?_

The five of them head back to the shack, and then out to a curious cave in the desert, the carvings in them light up with this beautiful turquoise aquamarine color when you touch them, each one flaring to life under your fingertips and dying when you lose contact. And then they go _down_ , and then...

You feel the whisper of a legend. And, oh... it speaks with a voice that tells of the same experiences you've lived.

Voltron... Five Lions. Five people out in the desert.

...Hm.

You wormhole back to Lotor's ship, a small excited smile on your face.

I mean, can you really be blamed? You've _heard_ so many legends but you've never been involved in one.

**End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a few quick things about this AU:
> 
> Pidge _did_ enter the Garrison under her actual name at first and was treated with a combination of kid and kiss-up gloves, which pissed her the hell off so she re-entered after talking to her parents about it under a nickname her brother gave her a while ago. Matt started using it again, even out of school, when she did and it annoyed her to high heaven but she won't refer to herself as anything else after he and their father are pronounced dead. AND she starts growing her hair out again when she's kicked out of the Garrison with Keith because long-haired Pidge is adorable (just as adorable as short-haired Pidge actually, but i'm envious of how long her hair was because i can't grow mine out that long without getting headaches).
> 
> If Lance saw how isolated Keith was in canon you CAN NOT TELL ME that he wouldn't immediately extend a hand in friendship regardless of any kind of rivalry they have between them. Boy may be petty but not _that_ petty, he's still a sweetheart.
> 
> Hunk is still a little squeamish but less cowardly because _Keith_. That boy is so reckless to the point where you just have to put your fear of danger aside to make sure that he makes it out okay, how do you think Shiro got to be such a great leader in these type of situations?
> 
> Keith, I expect will be a _little_ , not a whole lot this is still Keith we're talking about here, more level-headed, at least when it comes to these five. Less prone to argue and be surly because they're his friends.
> 
> umm... i can't think of anything else so ask me questions if you have them and we can discuss things like meta debaters because they're even more serious than adults
> 
> or you know more light-hearted than that because now that i read that that was a little intimidating plz just come say hi and i'll love you with all my heart
> 
> The characters of Voltron: Legendary Defender belong to Dreamworks and in no way are mine, I just wanted to borrow them for a bit.
> 
> If you ask me questions I'll babble at you so leave a comment and watch me make a fool of myself. _Or_ you can babble at me on tumblr: https://fantasypunchpunk.tumblr.com/


	3. Reconnection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *comic book narrator voice* Meanwhile with the others in the legend...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i got an unholy amount of enjoyment from writing this chapter so that means i have to warn y'all it's gonna be a doozy
> 
> and no, when i say 'unholy amount of enjoyment' i did not write any smut, i just enjoy making people suffer plot-wise, so
> 
>  **GORE WARNING**  
>  just a bit, only a lot of blood and the gore is only vaguely hinted at  
> please _please_ take care

The giant mecha robot's name is Voltron. That's the simplest thing Keith gets out of this.

That's not to say he doesn't get everything else, it's just the robot's name is the simplest part of all... of _this_. Evil aliens, _good_ aliens, Defenders of the Universe, and _he's in outer space_ , did he mention that?

It's a lot to handle but Keith does the best he can, falling back on his training to take orders from Shiro, the only senior officer Keith trusts enough to do so, and they do it. They defeat that thing the Galra send down, and this is _after_ slicing up one of their battleships.

And now they're celebrating with even more aliens they met on this planet to make up for putting the fear of god (gods?) in them.

"No, Keith, just say 'tron' when I say 'Vol', how is this difficult?"

"Because it would be so much faster if I just say 'Voltron'!"

"Lance, come on," Hunk nudges Lance with his elbow. "Just let Keith say what he wants. Make a new chant to go with it!"

Lance chokes out a sound of disbelief. " _Make a new_ \- But that's _the_ chant! Nothing is ever gonna top that one in catchiness, it's a classic!"

Lance and Hunk's conversation fades to the back of Keith's mind as he spots Pidge, hair gathered up into her I'm-on-a-mission ponytail, dumping random floating trays of hors d'oeuvres into a backpack and wearing a cloak, for some reason.

He wanders away from the other two to her. "Pidge?" She jumps, then slowly turns to him guiltily. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing, nothing!" she rushes out quickly, glancing at the empty trays that stay hovering near her incriminatingly. "Just... stashing away some snacks for later."

Keith raises an eyebrow and reaches into her bag, pulling out some gelatinous thing that looks like it has legs, that are also gelatinous. "Yeah, wouldn't want to miss out on eating this stuff more than I have to." Pidge sighs resignedly, knowing she's caught out. "Come on, tell me what you're really doing."

She takes a deep breath. "I'm going to go find Matt and my Dad." Keith's brow furrows and she starts babbling. "I'm not taking the Green Lion, just a shuttle. I think I got enough info from that galra ship to find them and if not I still have my bayard so--"

"So, what?" asks Keith. "You can take down a galra ship on your own with one weapon?"

Pidge's brow furrows now too. "Keith, you don't understand--"

"Yeah, I do," he cuts her off. "You think I don't remember all the nights you were up listening to transmissions with bloodshot eyes? Do you remember all the nights I stayed up with you?"

She looks away. "Yeah..."

He puts a hand on her shoulder. "Just because Shiro's back now doesn't mean I forgot what it was like when he went missing, and I know you're still going through that with your family." He squeezes it. "I _understand_. And it's because I do that I know how stupid you're being."

" _Stu--!_ "

He squeezes her shoulder again, quieting her. "Matt and your Dad aren't your only family. Me, Lance, Hunk, Shiro, we're your family too and we're not gonna let you go and put yourself in danger," She starts to scowl but he smiles reassuringly. "...On your own. We'll help you find them."

She gapes at him. "Keith..."

He ruffles her hair until it might as well not be in a ponytail, smushing her into a shorter height at the same time. "You're family, they're family. No two paths about it."

She tackles him into a hug. And then, because it bugs her, "Ways. It's, 'no two ways about it'."

Keith groans, "Oh my god, you're just as bad as Lance!"

Said boy squawks in indignant confused offense across the room, only having heard Keith's exasperation.

Pidge grins into Keith's chest, "I'll go undo the mods I made to the shuttle I was taking. Pretty sure they'd only work once anyway."

Keith pulls her away to stare down at her in bafflement. "How... When?!"

She just grins impishly.

And then there's an explosion in the castle and Lance is hurt and they all have to split up and Keith ad Allura are separated from Lance, Shiro, and Pidge while Hunk and Coran are off-world and Keith _can not handle this_ because his friends are in there with the aliens that want to _kill them_.

But then Pidge brings down the particle barrier and they all work together to trap Sendak behind another.

Keith slides on his knees to the still-battered and barely conscious Blue Paladin. "Lance! Lance, are you okay?"

Lance smiles at him dopily. "'m fine. You saved me."

Keith huffs a tired, relieved laugh. "You saved me first."

Lance hums a little too long in contemplation and Keith grasps his hand to pull him upright, supporting his back very _very_ gently when he hisses through his teeth at the effort. "Yeah, yeah I guess I did." His concussion glazed eyes focus on Keith and he smiles happily. "We make a pretty good team."

Keith smiles back. "Yeah, we do."

Lance murmurs, "Lance and Keith, together..." and trails off as he's dragged back into unconsciousness.

Keith _does not_ panic all the way until Lance is finally out of the healing pod, _shut up._

The castleship returns to space again after ten thousand years, Lance low-key wigging out about it from the time they tell him until they're surrounded by stars, and they head to the Balmera planet at Hunk's request.

Not before receiving a distress signal and thwarting an attempt to steal the Blue Lion by a trio of traders.

~

You pinch the bridge of your nose with closed eyes to ward off the coming headache. "I said to get me _information_ about the Blue Lion, not to steal it."

"We figured you'd set us up with a better life, you know _away_ from all the war, if we just got you the thing itself," the purple alien, _nnnnot Lotor but the name is similar_ \- Rolo! Rolo explains.

"Not we, he. My vote was to just do as you asked," the pretty yellow alien you have an irrational hate for, Nyma informs.

Beezor the bot beeps in agreement.

You let go of your nose and open your eyes to stare at them expectantly. "Well? _Did_ you get the information I asked for?"

"Of course," Nyma scoffs. "We're not amateurs."

"We would've gotten that lion too if that blue paladin didn't manage to somehow contact his team so quickly." Rolo pouts. He'd like you to believe it's a scowl but it's a pout.

"Then inform me, Scooby-Doo villain of the week."

Rolo shoots you an odd look before dutifully telling you how long ago they were here, that Keith, Pidge, Lance, Hunk, _and_ Shiro were all together with another two aliens, Allura and someone else whose name they didn't catch, and that they're with the five Lions of Voltron.

"They're their paladins, which would've been helpful to know but not necessary, I guess."

You smile at him. "They are, hm? I had an inkling but I wasn't certain." Your smile falls into a pensive flat line. "Were they okay? Did they look... healthy?"

Rolo and Nyma share a glance. "You care about them," Nyma states more than asks.

"I do. They're friends of mine, which is why I offered you a deal in exchange for you getting _information_ and _not stealing their stuff!_ "

Nyma is picking at her finger-like appendages (even though she doesn't have any nails?) and Rolo idly twirls the stalk of flora that weirdly looks like Earth hay in his mouth. "You're still hung up on that?"

"Considering that if they ever find out about my involvement in this they'll be very angry, _yes_."

"Oh, come on, what are the chances of that?"

You give him a very _very_ dry look.

"Okay, then how about we make up for that little blunder by telling you where they're headed now."

You perk up visibly.

"If," your attention switches to Nyma. "You set us up somewhere far away from the war."

You let out a deep sigh and fold down to sit cross-legged on the asteroid's surface. "Let me tell you guys something. The universe, at least the part habitable by multi-celled beings, is on the very edge of the _brink_ of war. _Real_ war, not the little skirmishes with small squadrons of galra you've seen up 'til now. But there's a little time before that happens. _I'm_ trying to make as many small changes I can to keep the death count lower than half of the universe's inhabitants. One of those small changes involves you three."

Rolo switches the not hay to the other side of his mouth, narrowing his eyes. "You think we care about the universe?"

"Considering you're one of the idiots who live in it," Your mouth twitches. "Yeah."

Nyma stares at you with her practically sclera-less eyes. "There's nowhere you can put us where we can avoid all this, is there?"

You meet her stare sadly. "If there was I'd try to put the whole of the cosmos there."

The planet you're looking for is the Balmera, and you drop off the traders at a Rebel base with a way to reach you and tell them to keep an ear to the ground about two humans named Matt Holt and Sam Holt.

You arrive on Balmera only long enough to locate the Lions and place an undetectable tracker on the ship they're in before you wormhole back under Lotor's thumb, the galra prince none the wiser of your personal errand.

A few days later you're sparring with Ezor (training her, really), snickering every time she screams in frustration as you easily block her camouflaged strikes, her demands of, "How are you _doing_ that?!" only answered by your light laughter, when your connection with the tracker flickers.

Your smile dims and Ezor strikes out, hoping to catch you while you're distracted. You block her casually and her screams of frustration get louder.

The tracker fails completely then and the panic that sends through you makes you accidentally block Ezor so hard she's sent skidding back in the other direction, her training the only thing keeping her on her feet. Barely.

She has to pinwheel to keep upright. "Hey! What's your problem--?!"

"Sorry, I gotta-" You point behind you with your thumbs and wormhole away before she can say anything.

~

"Father, please!" You arrive just in time to hear a white haired girl say to a glowing blue man. "If we don't change the heading, we will all perish--"

"I know," blue man (no relation to the group) says. "That is my intention."

"Ha!" you bark, and the entire room turns to look at you, shocked, Keith most of all, and he calls your name incredulously. You ignore him, eyes on the blue man as you walk up to him. "Yeah, no. Not gonna happen, glo-brite."

You reach the halo of light that surrounds him and what you suspect are the controls for the ship and halt with a disgusted shudder as bolts of purple lightning lash out at you to keep you at bay. The energy they're made up of feels _wrong_ and makes unease collect in your stomach and pool up in your throat like bile.

"What. The hell?" You look up just in time to see blue man flicker and realization that he's an AI gives you an idea and you grin. "So that's how it is, huh? Hang tight," you direct back at the Voltron crew. "I should have everything fixed soon, but as soon as you can someone should take the controls and pilot back to safety." Because, hey! You just noticed they're headed towards a dying star, isn't that wonderful?

Without waiting for an answer, you burst apart into organic-electronic particles that can interface with technology and converge with the AI's hologram. It immediately dissipates and tries to flee from you back to wherever its core programming is and you're right after it, trying several times to isolate it but it slips away from you at every opportunity, leading you right to a large tube filled with the memories of a long dead King.

You stall for a moment, overwhelmed by some memories that drift through you and stupefied with awe of this kind of technology that you've never witnessed in any reality previous except one, long _long_ ago. The corrupted AI, because you can _feel_ that that's the problem, it's corrupted by whatever it is that reminds you of bile, takes advantage of your distraction and attacks you like you're an invading virus, and unlike the time with Ezor, it actually lands on you and this time you're the one screaming, but it's in pain.

The corruption itself is what attacks you and it's even worse than what you now recognize was a feeble effort to push you away. Instead of just bile you feel like actually throwing up, and throwing up _blood_ too, the pain is that intense. And you have no doubt you would if you were actually in a physical form right now, but you aren't so all you can do is tremble with horrible shudders.

But it's just pain. And oh, pain is nothing if not familiar and it only motivates you, kicking your mind into super mega offensive and you notice that in its pursuit to assail you the corruption has exposed itself. You latch onto it. And you don't let it go like when you were tricking it to lead you back to where the largest accumulation of it was, oh no, you hold it with everything you have. When it just starts to realize it can't escape, _then_ you start dealing out your own attacks, harming it and stealing data on just how far it's spread, and then you attack it with the intention of loosening its holds on the ship. First on its grasp of the ship's controls and other important functions like the gravity, though why it would target that eludes you, and th _e airlocks oh my god thank goodness no one got sucked out into space_. Then the training gladiator (oh that's cool), then the kitchen, then the lights, and you actually take over the gladiator yourself for a moment to have it go down to the hangars and sever the connections to the infected Balmeran crystal, which you discover is the source of the corruption, and that more than anything makes the corruption screech in outrage and pain and it makes you grin ferally on the inside.

And then you start the long process of separating the corruption from the kind AI, using the memories as a guide when parts of the corruption try to disguise themselves as the AI itself. You attack and lock every bit that you can find into its true form, going strand by strand through the AI's code and leaving it untouched except for the removal of the infection and rounding up all the corruption into one easily surroundable mass that you crush into oblivion.

You drift there for a second, exhausted and in pain, and then pull yourself together and phase out of the large tube that holds the AI, and then _literally_ pull yourself together into your previous humanoid form, ignoring the blood that drips from various points on yourself that transferred over from when the corruption got in that one lucky shot and try not to feel too bad when you hack up a glob of blood onto the nice, silvery grey floor that is actually a lot better looking than the dark grey on Lotor's ship.

One last thing to take care of.

You drag your injured body from the room the AI is stored in and recall how to get from there to the hangars that you remember from essentially being plugged into the entire ship and only feel a _little_ guilty about the trail of blood you leave behind. Hey! At least this time it's a pretty red. The last time you got injured this bad you were nowhere near human, which you have to admit is your favorite form, and your blood was this horrible yellow green that stained terribly.

The hangar doors open and you take a moment to look up at part of a legend.

The Green Lion's eyes light up with life and it tilts its head down to look back at you with a low rumble. You give it a slightly bloody grin and wheeze, "Awesome..."

After a moment, it tilts its head back up and puffs out its chest proudly, making your grin widen.

And then your gaze drops down to the purple crystal and your grin shifts into steely determination.

You had just grabbed ahold of the frame surrounding the platform the crystal is embedded in when the hangar doors open again.

"If it is as Father said, then we must find her before she- oh goodness!" You turn and find the speaker, the white haired girl from before, with her hands clasped over her mouth and eyes wide with shock, a shock that's mirrored on the five Paladins horror-struck faces.

You spare a moment to look down and make sure that you did actually materialize some clothes on after returning to human form and you had, perfectly presentable, you know other than the blood seeping through from your wounds in some places, but that's just one of the drawbacks when you have bodily fluids, which they should know about as well, also having bodily fluids, so when you lift your head you send them a questioning look, "What?"

Your name is choked out to the side and you turn to find the human that convinced you to stay in this reality without having to say a single word with a devastated look on his face.

Uh-oh, is he not happy? You understand that seeing you all the way out here in space might be a little surprising, but the panic you see in is eyes really isn't warranted. Still, you give him a bright and delighted, "Keith!" with a beaming smile, because even if he's not happy to see you, _you're_ still happy to see _him_.

For some reason this makes him let out another choked sound- oh!

Your beam dims into a sheepish close-lipped smile. "Yeah sorry, haven't had the chance to get to a toothbrush yet... or a shower... so I'm still a little," You gesture at all your injuries and the blood making a small pool underneath you now that you've finally stopped in one place for longer than a few seconds. "Horror movie-esque."

Lance gapes at you incredulously. "Did she just mention an Earth thing?"

"She's _from_ Earth!" Keith snaps irritably and the other humans, besides Shiro who's still looking at you with more shock than anything, whip around to gape at him.

"What?!" Lance, Pidge, and Hunk chorus.

"No, she is not," the white haired girl confidently says the same time you say, "Actually, I'm not."

You shoot her a confused and intrigued look when you finally register her words over yours. "And how would you know that?"

"This can be discussed later," she avoids your question. "Right now, we must get you into a healing pod--"

"Oh no you don't," you cut her off, "I'm not doing anything before I safely get this," You gesture at the crystal. "Out into space and neutralize it."

"That can wait until you are healed," she insists. "You are severely injured and--"

"To you."

She shoots you a confused look. "Excuse me?"

"To you, this is severely injured. To me, 'tis but a scratch." Only Lance's eyes flash with recognition at the phrase and you give him a harsh look that succeeds in keeping him quiet. Though you used that quote, you are telling the truth. "I've been hurt much worse than this before, even if that was a while ago, and making sure that whatever has infected this crystal doesn't creep its way into your ship's systems again is far more important than my _discomfort_." You comb your hair out of your face and lift your bloody chin, standing tall. "Now move aside."

Surprisingly, because you saw in the furrow of her brow and the jut of her chin just how stubborn this girl is, she does, with a flash of something uncomfortably close to reverence and the slight bowing of her head. The humans, seeming just as surprised as you, follow her lead and clear a path for you through the hangar doors.

" _Thank_ you," you say with as much bravado as you can while being exhausted and still in a considerable amount of pain and on second thought, "Warming up that healing pod wouldn't go amiss _after_ I've taken care of this, though," you toss out while casually dragging the one and a half ton crystal on another quarter ton platform with one hand and a loose grip, ignoring the shocked gaping of all, even the white haired girl who hastens to snap her mouth closed and compose herself to answer.

"Er- yes, of course."

With that obstacle safely diverted, you pull the crystal to one of the many airlocks and push it in, shutting the door behind you. You keep a tight hold on the crystal as the castle counts down to opening and only just catch Lance running up to the window with a frantic face before the airlock opens and you and the crystal are sucked out into the void without you getting the chance to reassure him. Ah, shit. Well, best to get this done quick and hurry back then.

Even though your form is human, certain traits, traits of what you _truly_ are, are evident no matter what form you take. One is your strength, which can be quite shocking to other beings when you're in a smaller form (which is basically all the time), another is your ability to breathe in the vacuum of space. Something that's quite helpful with your wormhole ability because you can't even count how many times it's dropped you into open void with no other beings or structures around and left you to wander.

Luckily, in those wanderings, you've discovered many forms that are not only helpful in getting around vast stretches of space, but also capable of reducing most anything to atoms. The only question is which one can also handle the influx of really bad energy that the crystal harbors.

Keeping your hold on the crystal, you wait until most of the momentum from being ejected has waned and then you close your eyes and focus. Normally, you wouldn't have to, but again, you're injured and exhausted and both tend to be very hindering things. You overcome it anyway.

A starwhale is what you decide on in the end, and fins are not made to hold things so you let go of the crystal and propel yourself away from it, circling around with a twist of your fluked tail and then scooping it up in your large maw. Starwhales were made to produce energy from the light of nearby stars and can sustain themselves solely from that, but if they were threatened or came across a long stretch of darkness, they can break down pretty much anything with mass and get rid of whatever they can't by shooting it out of their blowholes. You take this approach with the crystal, swallowing it and immediately starting the digestive process.

The metal platform and the crystal itself are easy to break down, it's when you get to that disgusting energy that you have problems. Your starwhale form quickly shows its dislike for it and tries to divert it to the blowhole as fast as it can in a reaction similar to a human throwing up poison but you force yourself to keep it down, to _make_ your digestion destroy this blight.

It doesn't work. And in a not-so-shocking turn that manages to surprise you anyway, the corrupted energy starts to attack you from the inside, causing you to let out an involuntary sound of deep pain as your injuries are added to.

So, starwhale's not working, let's try something else. You transform into several different colossal cosmic beasts in rapid succession, trading one for another every time it's clear that this one can't destroy the energy. You really should just let it go. It doesn't have a vessel to reside in any longer so it'll just dissipate out in space, but something about that gives you a bad feeling and you've learned to trust your gut after all these years.

Plus, this stupid stuff had the nerve to _attack you_ several times now and you're a petty bitch who believes in _revenge_.

After a few dozen tries and enough wounds to go with each one, it's apparent that no regular creature will be able to get rid of this evil but powerful energy. You can tell that it's not even that much or particularly strong, it's just really stubborn in its need to _stay around_ and cause harm. And at that point, you're too tired and in pain to think of any other solution besides your true form, one of them, anyway. It's kind of hard to explain, one of your... phases? Whatever, not important. You just know you need the one that deals with energy.

 _Deals with energy?_ some person might ask if they were privy to your thoughts. _Then why didn't you go for that form in the first place?_

Well, privy person, that would be because _all_ of your forms are ridiculously huge and take up far too much space, _even in space_ which is really quite a feat, you have to admit, and they're not really supposed to be beholden by any eyes of any species that isn't like your own, i.e. really fuckin' ancient with a mind capable of holding and processing _eons_ of information... which you haven't really encountered... ever. So, yeah.

With that in mind and the awareness that there is a ship full of not-able-to-behold beings not too far away, you take great care to layer, like, a _fuck-ton_ of illusions to shield yourself from any eyes while still preserving the knowledge that _you're there_ , so that they don't accidentally try to fly into you or something. That's happened to you before, it's not a fun experience. Because when you say fly into you, you literally mean fly _into_ you, as the form you're taking is, in the most simple terms possible, nebulous. Everywhere but not physically. A lot like your incorporeal human form, actually. And like in that form, it's _really_ unpleasant for something to just _go right through you_ , so when you transform you expend a bit more effort to have the center of your form not appear where your previous form was and instead move it _faaaar_ away so that only the edge of your massive bulk is where you were.

Transforming, at least for you, is never uncomfortable like some stories would have you believe. It's _your_ skin, _your_ bones, _your_ blood that just changes shape, color, density. It's **you** , only in a different form. But your true forms, the ones that are unequivocally you no matter what state you're in, they will always be the most comfortable to you, hands down, and even though the situation calls for you to quickly get it over with, you take a small second to just appreciate _being you_ , massive bulk and eye-melting looks and all.

And then you turn inwards on the corrupted energy.

Like this it's easy to see what it was before, how beautiful it was before it was twisted. This was pure, life-sustaining energy, the most common to be sure, you've felt it before many times, but someone just... _bent it_. It makes you angry. Not just because this kind of energy has been around no matter where you've gone and so has become a sort of silent companion and it has been violated but also because whoever has bent this energy has done it so thoroughly that it can never be pure or life-sustaining again. The most you can do for it is completely eradicate it and hope that other sources can replenish wherever this batch was taken from.

So you do, with a heavy heart and a lot less vindictiveness than you started out with.

No, now that vindictiveness is directed at whatever horrible monster would steal, basically life itself, and taint it to the point of impassive bloodlust.

You're so tired, and only have enough strength to return to humanoid form through the desire not to harm your favorite humans because small attacks though they were, there were a lot, from within most of your defenses, layered _on top_ of each other and you're losing consciousness. You can't maintain your illusions when you're unconscious but you _will not harm them_ so you're human and the stars that enchant you so much are going out one by one as colors fade to darkness, except for that one speck of white and red that's separated from the slightly bigger white and is rapidly approaching you.

Your last thought before everything goes completely black is that you're gonna tear whoever stole that life to shreds.

**End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another coupla notes:
> 
> There's that sociable Keith I mentioned! Lookit 'im being all caring~
> 
> The reuniting episode with Pidge and her brother was equally tear-jerking and a joy but I am still VERY WORRIED about Mr. Holt. So I'm gonna throw all of my worries at you people by writing them down here, hope you're ready for sad things, but more on that later.
> 
> You've finally revealed you're ALSO out in space with the Voltron crew! Yaaay~! Oh the looks of shock I imagine on their faces. *evil laughter* And another thing, I know Allura losing her father is what really pushes her to become stronger and more of a leader in the series and is a really big part of her character arc but I've seen firsthand what losing a memento of a deceased loved one can do to someone on the not positive scale and I imagine that Allura goes through that as well even if they don't show it in the show and it breaks my heart so no, she gets to keep her father's AI in this.
> 
> And see?!! Not a mary-sue, you almost die here, even though you're not aware of it. And the reason you felt so apprehensive about just releasing the energy even though it had no vessel was because if you did it would immediately be picked up by the druids and then they would be on the lookout for any more anomalies. i.e. You. 'Cause you're just one big awesome anomaly.
> 
> The characters of Voltron: Legendary Defender belong to Dreamworks and in no way are mine, I just wanted to borrow them for a bit.
> 
> If you ask me questions I'll babble at you so leave a comment and watch me make a fool of myself. Or you can babble at me on tumblr: https://fantasypunchpunk.tumblr.com/


	4. Not A God

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *SpongeBob Narrator voice* Several days later...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so slight change of plan. If you've read Dance Until Dawn, my Voltron chat fic, then you'll know that I had an update spree or whatever I called it planned. Turns out some awesome things irl are actually coming to fruition, but that unfortunately means I will probably be without internet for a little bit after, so! I'm putting out everything I have ready now before I go dark. Shame, too. I only had one more chapter of My Love, Your Heart and Principe de la Lluvia left to do.
> 
> Anyway, since Season 7 came out, I have had too many feels to not write for this, so hopefully canon doesn't drop any major plot bombs that I'll have to go back and rewrite, then again, this is pretty plot divergent anyway, so... And I have to say that the Lotor parts of this fic are beginning to be my favorite parts to write, so that means I need to pay more attention to the parts with the Voltron crew, bUT LOTOR THOUGH.
> 
> uhhh.... **ANIMAL CRUELTY WARNING** i guess?  
>  It's more putting it out of its misery, in my opinion, because it's no longer really living, but opinions aren't facts so somebody might see it a different way, that's why I'm giving warning.

It tastes familiar, is the first thought you have when you're able to have them. The last time you tasted it it was younger, given to you as a meek offering in exchange for your advice when you were still freely giving it, and it has matured now, by thousands of years of development and advancements, but you remember. You always remember the grateful ones. And suddenly the white haired girl's reverent look makes sense.

There's a hiss, and stale air gets sucked and swirled out into the fresh air that's been allowed entry by whatever enclosure you're in. You wobble the same time you open your eyes and arms are around you before you can sway, black giving way to worried grey-violet.

You smile. "'Sup, Keith."

His eye twitches. Uh-oh. "What's up? What's up is that  _you almost died!_ "

"Keith," you sigh. "Just because I was out in space doesn't mean--"

"Allura told us that you can breathe out in space," A quick glance at Allura prompts her to nod at you, that unsettling awe mostly eclipsed by worry. "I'm talking about how you were covered in wounds, inside  _and_ out," He raises his voice when you try to say once again that you're a lot more durable than they are, " _And_ how we couldn't pick up any life signs from you until you were actually  _inside_ the Red Lion."

You perk up. "I was inside one of the Lions?"

Keith calls your name sharply in reprimand and shakes you a little with every word, "You. Were. Al-most. Dead!"

"Keith!" Shiro marches over and separates the two of you, putting a hand on your shoulder when you lose who was stabilizing you. "There's no need to treat her that way."

"Yeah, Keith! You gotta be  _nice_ to the ladies for them to like you." Lance wiggles his eyebrows at you which you acknowledge with a look of heavy amusement. And it gets even heavier when you see Keith shooting Lance an annoyed look with a twitching eye.

And then their words catch up with you and you frown a little. "It's fine, I'm not some delicate flower that has to be handled with utmost care or anything."

"Aren't you?" Pidge asks. You shoot her an unamused look. "I mean some type of flower, even if you're not a delicate one." She gestures out beyond the healing pod room. "You turned into practically everything else when you were out there."

So they  _were_ watching. You're glad you took precautions to protect them.

You shrug, straightening up now that you feel you finally have your feet under you and Shiro removes his hand now that you're able to stand on your own. "Depends on what kind of mood I'm in, really. Or what's useful at the time."

Pidge pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose and they glint in the castle's lights. "So it's voluntary."

A grin stretches across your face at her inquisitiveness and you can't help the pedantic tone that comes out when you reply, "Yes, it's a voluntary change."

"So, like, did you kill and steal the skin of other aliens to change into or-" Everyone shoots Hunk a disturbed look. "What! It's a valid question."

"No, Hunk," you huff out on a laugh before anyone can get bent out of shape about possibly offending you. "My form just changes its biology into whatever being I want, and I end up looking however I would if I were born and aged as that species."

Pidge's eyes sparkle with fascination at the explanation and Hunk nods retrospectively. "Yeah, okay, that makes a lot more sense than- Hey, wait a minute, how'd you know my name?" You blink in surprise only noticing your slip just then. " _You can read minds?!_ "

A snort slips out before you can really stop it. "Aw man, I wish! That would be so helpful," You then frown and bring a hand up to your chin, the other coming up to support the opposite elbow. "Then again that's a lot more sensory input than I really would want to take the time to register at every second of the day."

"More than just the five?" Pidge asks dubiously. She would be the one who would want an ability like mind-reading.

"I have six senses, actually," You remove your hand from your chin to hold it out and wiggle your fingers. "And the sixth kind of does its own thing and branches out into more sometimes."

Pidge's eyes get even wider but before she can ask more questions, Hunk asks, "So the sixth sense is how you know my name? I don't know, that sounds a little..."

"Well, no..." you trail off in embarrassment. You're totally gonna come off as a stalker, dammit, even though you're not! But... well, honesty is the best policy, and all that. "I kinda found out all your names while I was looking after Keith." You look down and away and pick at your nails.

"Wait, what?" asks Keith.

"You've chosen him as your disciple!" Allura gasps delightedly.

" _No,_ " you shoot that down with a quickness. "I chose him as my friend. A very reckless friend who would either run himself ragged or  _starve_ unless looked after, hence my keeping tabs on him." You give Keith a deadpan look when he opens his mouth to protest and he subsides with a pout.

Lance laughs, loudly. "She's got you pegged, man!"

"Shut up..."

"I actually chose someone else as my  _mentee_ ," you stress the word. "Because they really  _really_ need some kind of moral guidance," you continue. "And I should really get back to them before they wonder where I've disappeared to, but before that,"

You pin Allura with your stare. "I think you and I should have a talk."

~

"Altea, huh..." you hum, eyes sorrowful. "When I knew it, it was Altern, or Alternia, depending upon who you asked." Coran practically vibrates out of his seat at the information and hurriedly puts it into the ship's computers, checking the visual recording device to make sure it's getting everything you say. You eye it in equal parts discomfort and amusement, "Is this really necessary?"

"Not really, no," Coran admits, tweaking one last thing before sitting down with a huge grin, hands poised over a holographic input. "But this is a momentous occasion! The last Alteans meeting with their deity whose words have been handed down through every generation! This is history!!"

You smile uncomfortably, "Guys, I said this before, I'm not a deity, I'm just--"

"An inter-dimensional-inter-reality being who has a vast knowledge of the workings of the cosmos," Allura recites, smiling indulgently. "Yes, we know."

"I wouldn't say  _vast,_ " you mumble, blushing. "Just enough to get through it fairly quickly without being crushed like a grape."

Both Alteans blink at you. "A... grape?"

You blink too. "Oh! Uh... Like a..." You think for a second. "Lerrtle fruit? But with a slightly firmer, flimsy shell."

"In any case, you may not consider yourself a deity but the fact that you taught our people numerous invaluable things and guided us to a better future remains the same," Allura smiles. "Your involvement in our lives was... miraculous, to put it simply. And your presence here now is..." Her eyes dart to the side with her mouth partially open, searching for a sufficient word. "Well, it's a miracle!" she decides on, laughing brightly.

You smile as well, as genuinely as you can. "I am glad to have the chance to meet Alterni-uh I mean, Alteans, again." You grin sheepishly and they beam at you.

Alternians weren't the first nor the last to worship you like a god but they were the only ones with such a strong desire to  _learn_ that with only a few brief descriptions some of them were able to superficially shapeshift. It was a marvel to witness, and you can't remember the last time you were so proud of an entire race's capability. But with their people almost entirely gone with only two left, the probability that one of them are able to is... well. You look between the two of them searchingly, with hope... and something like dread. "Say... One of you wouldn't happen to be able to... shapeshift, would you?"

Both Allura and Coran light up, but Coran looks towards Allura expectantly while Allura looks to the side nervously. "I am," she says, and when you start to shrink into yourself (not literally, though) she hurriedly reassures, "But I never shared that disbelief that some shapeshifters had! I never understood why they were so disappointed and hostile whenever tales of your wisdom were shared. They called themselves enlightened and yet they refused to listen to any of your words that were passed down to us." She frowns sadly.

You frown too. "That's  _because_ they were enlightened."

They blink at you in taken aback astonishment.

You flash them a there and gone smile. "I'm sure you'll understand what I mean one day..." You stand from your chair and look at them, at Allura, sadly, lingering on the marks on her cheekbones. "And when that day comes, just remember that I never tried to be a god. Never. I just wanted to teach."

You walk away from the table but pause when Allura calls out, "Wait!" and turn back questioningly. She smiles. "I would like for you to remember that you'll always be welcome on this ship, anytime."

You smile sadly. "I won't hold you to it."

You open up a wormhole and leave.

~

You teleport to a few different places to buy yourself time to school your expression before you arrive on Lotor's ship, on the Bridge as he'd asked you to do to avoid setting off the ship's alarms, into the midst of an intense stare down... that seems to be centered on you.

"And where, exactly, have you been?" Lotor drawls from the captain's chair.

You don't hear him, your narrowed eyes locked on Narti.

Lotor calls your name impatiently.

With a quick sharp motion of your wrist, you encapsulate the cat on her shoulder in a blacked out containment field and separate it from her, tackling her in the same moment, pinning her limbs to the floor.

Blasters are immediately pointed at your head from three different directions, you don't pay them any attention, only barely hearing Lotor sharply ordering his upright Generals down as you focus on keeping Narti decisively pinned without hurting her. A difficult task, as she's panicking and flailing with all of her senses except for touch cut off from her.

"What so you think you are doing?" Lotor calls to you, just as sharp as he was with his Generals.

Again, you ignore him, and carefully open yourself up enough to Narti to communicate with her while warding off all her attempts to take over your mind and body. While what you said to the Voltron crew about you not being able to read minds was true, you  _have_ developed several mind- _shielding_ techniques as mind readers are not a rare thing in the vast universe. "Narti? Narti!" you call out loud and in your mind. "It's me, you're okay."

With the identity of who's restraining her confirmed, Narti stops struggling physically. You and she have a special kind of friendship that consisted of your exasperated looks to her over the other Generals' silliness (mostly Ezor and Zethrid) and her facepalms over the same. You trust each other, to have the other's back on a mission, to be occasionally fed up with the others around you, to be content with a quiet camaraderie when in each other's presence. But her confusion has her continuing her mental prodding, the most natural way for her to acquire information.

The tension in the other girls' stances relax when Narti stops struggling, but they and Lotor keep hurling questions as to what you're doing. Again, you ignore them.

You let Narti continue to prod but don't allow her entry as you project to her and say out loud, "Narti, my friend, you will be just fine, but this is going to hurt  _very much._ " And then you reach for that seed of unnaturalness that has infiltrated her mind, and  _pull._

Narti's back arches from the ground as her whole body seizes and Acxa, Ezor, Zethrid, and Lotor shout for you to cease with increasing urgency that has you throwing up a quick barrier around you and Narti as a precaution in case they decide to try to stop you, that's validated a hot second later as something rebounds from its outer surface.

You don't lose focus and keep pulling, gently but efficiently severing the infestation from her.

Narti's seizes have faded to weak twitches and the pain she's experiencing has caused her to cease her prodding to retreat to her own mind. It pains you as well to see Narti like this but you can only feel the horror of when you sensed that awful energy, the same as that which infected the castle of Lions, coming from your quiet friend.

With one final tug, the energy is free from her body and floating in the air above her. It's even more corrupted than the stuff you dealt with before, oozing malignancy and all-consuming darkness. Narti has gone limp underneath you, unconscious, but alive, so you remove one of your hands from her to morph it into a microscopic part of your energy being-self, cloaked in an attention-diverting illusion, and wrap it around the abominable energy like a cage. Not giving it a chance to retaliate, you viciously snuff it out the instant it's contained and sneer in delight at its demise.

In the blinded barrier, the cat wails in pain when the energy is extinguished, drawing everyone's gaze but yours as you change your hand back to humanoid and bring down the shield around you and Narti.

"What was that?" Acxa demands of you. "What did you do to her?"

"I removed something that had no business being in her brain and would've undoubtedly caused her harm had it remained in her," you explain, moving to check Narti's vitals. When the three Generals tense, you stop and carefully move away from her, annoyed but understanding. "She'll be fine, like I said, but you should give her medical attention just in case."

Zethrid picks Narti up carefully while Acxa continues to glare at you with suspicion.

"What should we be looking for?" Ezor asks.

"Basic brain function, for now. She's still breathing and her heart's beating so that's good, but test her involuntary reflexes while she's out. She won't be able to see, when she wakes, but try to keep her calm until I can find a way to fix that."

"Why not just give her back the feline?" Zethrid asks, holding Narti with clumsy genteelness.

"Because the feline is the one who put that harmful something in Narti." There's a tense silence as Lotor's Generals look at the dark orb that holds the eerily silent cat and then glance at the Prince himself, who also stares at the orb, but keeps his gaze riveted to it as he searches his memory... and then frowns, deeply. "Where did the cat come from?" you ask him quietly.

The Generals send each other significant looks before leaving with Narti for the medbay.

"It was my mother's companion for a long time, in the past..." His hands clench into fists at his sides. "It began to follow me more than her when I started traveling farther from home and I left its care to Narti, since she seemed like the one least likely to kill it with an overabundance of affection but still like it. It seems she was still keeping an eye on me for Father. All of those plans..." His fists clench even tighter and a muscle in his jaw ticks.

Wow, that's a lot of family drama you  _really_ don't want to touch. You stand and hesitantly gesture at the orb. "So... what do you want to do with it?"

He looks at you, finally tearing his eyes from the thing. "What?"

"Do you want to kill it, or separate your mother's influence from it, or send her a crank call maybe?"

His eyes narrow. "You can remove my mother's influence from it?"

As long as you can pinpoint it, which you're pretty sure you can, and now you also know who's behind the malicious twisting of energy. "Yeah, might take a while longer than when I did it with Narti, but..." You frown at the orb with deep pity. "If she's been in its head for a while I can't guarantee it'll survive the process."

He frowns, asks, "Can you put  _your_ influence into it?"

You blink wide eyes at him. " _Mine?_ I mean... I guess I could? But it wouldn't let me see through its eyes or anything like that if I did, if it even survives it."

"And if it did survive?"

"Uh... its biology would probably irreversibly change... somehow. I've never tried to do this with another living being, so I have no idea how..." you trail off, "Actually, I'm pretty certain that it would never be able to die of old age, but other than that..."

"That's not even a possibility now," he waves the suggestion off dismissively, but looks at you curiously. "I asked you your name once, I never asked you what being you are, though, did I?"

You carefully school your face into neutrality and tilt your head. "Why would you want to know?"

"The things you can do..." he murmurs, stepping close and raising a hand to hover just over your cheek.

Your face doesn't shift from its neutrality and your head doesn't move into his hand.

His eyes lose their subtle awe and he lowers his hand, looking at you with the true calculation you felt under the surface, that makes one side of your lips quirk up, and his eyes dart down to register that before narrowing determinedly. "You manage to do seemingly miraculous things... I have need of a miracle."

You study him carefully. He's tense, hands at his sides, back straight, chin firm. Like a soldier in front of their commanding officer-no, like a wary animal in front of a predator. He's finally realized just how much more powerful you are compared to him. "And if my miracle is nothing more than words?"

His mouth twitches, a slight furrowing of the brow in displeasure, but he answers, "Then I will listen carefully."

Oho? This is the first time you've actually pulled up that offer of advice instead of blindly doing as he's told, and he  _seems_ to be taking it. You smile for the first time since coming aboard the ship. "Let me help Narti and then you can tell me what kind of miracle you need."

"It's something I must show you, actually." He turns to head off somewhere else.

"Alright... Lotor," you call at his retreating back and he halts, turns to you in the slightest. "What about the cat?"

His eyes flicker to the globe. "Kill it." He continues on without another glance back.

Well, you would feel sorry but  _whatever_ corrupted the cat killed the actual 'cat' long ago.

The globe's smooth dark surface reflects your sad expression as it dips sharply inward in several key places and slowly smoothes back out again as it, and the body within it, disintegrate into particles that fall gently to the floor and vanish.

One more angrily carved tally against who you now know is behind the corrupted energy, Lotor's Mother.

~

After Narti wakes and makes the insides of your head ring with her scolding then gratitude once the situation is explained in full to her and the other Generals and she confirms that her new 'third eye' (a technique to perceive things around you with the mind that can only be learned by someone else  _gently_ tweaking something into place) is working better than fine, you leave the Generals on Lotor's main ship and go with the Prince himself and a bunch of curiously masked galra technicians to a nondescript craft that's almost big enough to be a ship but not small enough to be a shuttle. It is big enough to enter and not be destroyed by lightspeed.

In four heartbeats, Lotor wanders off from you and the technicians to presumably make sure the trip to wherever you're going is proceeding smoothly, and you choose to remain where you are, curiosity nibbling at you.

Eyes, to you, and the act of 'looking' itself, is a nicety. You see whatever you focus on, it doesn't matter where as long as it's near you. You have no need for optical organs. So while you hum and tap out a rhythm on your lightweight armor you made for yourself (specifically leaving out any similarity to the galra, while giving it a subtle, pretty opalescent shimmer to a few of the armor's individual scales along your ribs, on your forearms, your outer thighs, the inside of your shins, and an intense concentration of it on a single point on your back that you hide with a tiny illusion), you focus on one of the tablets in the technicians hands.

Search parameters, biological markers...

Your name is called from the intercom and your head jerks up from where it was bowed. "Come to the Bridge, I want you to see this," Lotor's tinny voice bids you.

You go, well, you port. Used to your antics, Lotor doesn't even flinch when you appear beside him in a flashy show of light, and you pout a little until you pay attention to the observation window.

You have long exited lightspeed and yet space itself tunnels into an unseen point, the 'tunnel' made up of loosely clustered asteroids, twisted and stretched like someone had a grand time trying to figure out Photoshop for the first time. The asteroids make the tunnel, but they also orbit the unseen point off in the distance. Past the boundary of the asteroids, the stars and void flicker visibly like static by some unseen phenomenon.

Lotor looks at it with some subtle smug pride. "I can't imagine you've seen anything like  _this_ before."

"Depends on what those flickers are," You point at one of the static phenomena as it lights up.

"Tachyon quantum flares," he says confidently.

"Sooo, concentrated time flare-ups and... space dilation, right?"

He glances at you, less confident. "Yes...?"

You smirk. "I've seen a ship that successfully uses both." He frowns at having his thunder stolen and your smirk widens into a smile. "Time and Relative Dimension in Space, she was a beauty."

"In any case, flying through here requires a delicate touch. Which is why I'm piloting," he grumps.

You gesture welcomingly. "Then by all means, captain."

He advances slowly, keeping to the middle of the path the asteroids make and well away form the tachyon quantum flares. A few minutes pass and a spacebehemoth, slightly different than a starwhale, floats pass and you light up at the sight of the ecosystem on its back. You materialize a tracker and stick it to the back of Lotor's chair and cloak it, before telling him, "Keep going, I'll be right back," and porting to the back of the spacebehemoth.

It's a veritable tropical jungle where you land and you beam in excitement. Before you can run around and look at all the plants and creatures, though, light streaks through the sky and crashes further into the jungle. Immediately curious, you run to the crash site and frown when you find a lone cosmic wolf pup defending itself from well-armored crustacean creatures.

You run up and try to shoo them away with large movements, but they're unimpressed and move to attack you instead. Pouting, you slaughter them in the blink of an eye and grimace at the goo that's all over your armor now. You try to wipe it off, turning to the pup to make sure it's okay only to pause when it flinches away from you.

You crouch down as small as you can, sitting and hunching even further. You grab one of the legs of the decimated creatures and frenzy its molecules to heat the meat inside the shell. When it's cooked thoroughly, at least enough to be consumed by a human, you crack open the shell carefully and pick out pieces to nibble on, seemingly ignoring the pup completely for your food, but keeping your focus on it to see what it does.

The pup's eyes, wide yellow rings in a sea of darkness surrounded by neon blue markings, stay warily locked on you before its nose twitches towards the food in your hand. It stares at it, then at you, then at the rest of the meat around you and hesitantly creeps over to one of the piles that's spilled out of the shell.

You keep eating, not giving any indication that you're paying attention to it.

It sniffs at the meat, then licks it, and hacks at the taste, mouth wide, tongue out, ears back, and full of regrets. It hacks a few more times and sniffs again, nose drifting in your direction. It stares at the food in your hand again.

You fight off a smile. You're taking small bites, little morsels, and the creature's leg is as big as yours so there's plenty left.

It takes one more try at the uncooked meat, again regretting, before looking sadly at the food in your hand.

Unable to fight off a huff of laughter this time, you rip off a piece of meat and toss it to the pup, well away from you.

It startles when it lands near it and sniffs at it cautiously until it realizes what it is and swiftly gobbles it up. It licks its mouth and looks back up at you.

You smile softly and throw it another piece.

You both eat that way for a while, you nibbling small pieces and giving the pup more sizable but still bite-sized for it chunks when it looks up for more, until you finish off the entire leg. The pup had just hatched from its comet and had to fight for its life immediately, the thing had a right to be famished. It still looks hungry even after eating practically the whole leg of a creature itself, so you reach out for another and heat it up, startling when you feel something soft brush up against your side.

The pup looks at the cooking leg and then up at you, licking its lips anticipatively.

You laugh softly. "Just a little longer," you reassure it.

An hour later, you port back to the Bridge where Lotor is still piloting with a small bundle of well-fed fluff in your arms.

Lotor eyes said bundle of fluff, and raises a brow at you.

You beam a him. "Their name's Kosmo until they can pick one for themselves."

Rolling his eyes, Lotor pilots on and you stand beside him, stroking Kosmo's ears whenever they sniff at your hands.

~

You land on a planet at the end of the distortion that's surrounded by three moons. Its wide open fields are surrounded by a few tall forests, and on the hills and nestled in valleys are rounded grey structures that release humanoid beings when the ship lands. Before you can even see them clearly, you taste it on the planet's atmosphere, even when it has more changes than the last time you recognized it.

You and Lotor step off the ship, Kosmo at your ankles, and are faced with a sea of happy faced Alteans.

You glance at Lotor, but he's busy smiling and waving down at the people below to notice. For the time being, you choose to reserve judgment and collect information.

A majority of the Alteans welcome Lotor with friendly greetings and flowers and- waitasecond, is... is that a statue... _of_ Lotor? That's... wow. There are a few Alteans that choose to keep their distance with neutral, or even openly suspicious in the case of one young woman, faces.

Lotor introduces you as his dear friend and suddenly you're being welcomed and flowered and neutraled and suspected as well. You accept it all with a small smile but keep observing, especially when Kosmo creeps toward an unattended basket of flowers.

Their nose leads them into it and when they raise their head, it's bespeckled in flora and you snort indelicately, drawing the attention of a few Alteans. When they catch sight of Kosmo, they laugh as well and a few kids race over to them to play with them and the flowers. Kosmo seizes up and you do as well and you port between them before you can think about it.

The kids skid to a halt in front of you, gaping, as does everyone else, but you purposely bulldoze past it, bending down and telling the kids that Kosmo is very skittish so it's best not to surprise them. A little boy asks if you appearing out of nowhere doesn't surprise them and you say you guess it doesn't because they've done it with you a couple of times.

As expected there are then a barrage of pleas to go 'shimmering' with you, the visual effect you adapted to give them a little warning must have been a little too showy, and you laugh nervously as you look to the parents for help. They're no help at all because they say it's fine as long as it's fine with you and you don't go too far.

You spend the next three hours porting tykes five feet back and forth and glaring at Lotor whenever he smirks at you. During this, the technicians file out with their tablets and the Alteans make their way to them while chatting excitedly, but Lotor holds up a hand to both the Alteans and the technicians, glaring at the latter. He says today he just wanted to show his dear friend, you, around, so they'll have to put off check-ups until later.

There are a few protests but then he says if all goes well, you, and he locks gazes with you as he says this, can safely set up communications with the new colony. There's a surge of cheers at that and the Alteans disperse from the techs, who board the ship after Lotor's dismissing wave, to swarm you with questions and gratitude. You keep your gaze locked with Lotor's through the moving crowd, though, because now you know a little of the miracle he wants you to perform, but not all of it. He still hasn't told you something.

Your name is called desperately by a young voice and you focus back on the Alteans around you, on the young girl in front of you that you recognize as the one who was openly suspicious.

"Is it true?" she demands, lavender eyes boring into yours. "Will my brother and I really be able to speak to our parents?"

In the face of that, that burning, desperate hope, there's nothing you can say but, "I'll try."

You spend a couple more hours deflecting questions as honestly as you can and once they finally leave you in peace, you make your way to Lotor.

"There's more," you say, because there is.

He glances at you and then waves invitingly to the ship. You both board and lift off with cheers of farewell from the Alteans, and once you've passed the cloaking shield around the planet, instead of heading for distortion alley again, you head for the planet's biggest moon, to a small facility on its surface.

When you step inside, your stomach turns and your eyes white out as you focus on it all, the whole facility, every single  _person_ inside a life-draining pod so you can find a  _reason_. Because there  _has_ to be one, to do all of this, there can't  _not_ be one.

But you can't find it, so you  _ask_ , you  _plead_ Lotor, eyes still white, still searching, " _Explain._ "

He tells you about the galra empire's need for life-energy, for  _quintessence_. How it runs on it, how if it had it, they would stop conquering, stop  _destroying_ planets for it. How he had discovered it was the highest in concentration in Alteans--

You ask him, you plead for him to stop there. You then ask him, "If I can find you something better than quintessence, will you stop this and let me take the lead with what happens with them from now on?"

"Something better than quintessence?" he says doubtfully. But then he remembers that he did ask for a miracle. So then he says, "Alright."

Your eyes flash brighter, steam and stream with light, and all the pods, in the entire facility, glow gold. The Alteans within them, barely alive, sallow and thin, sapped of life, start to heal. Their faces gradually fill out and gain color, and though their eyes are closed and they're still unconscious, they straighten and their bodies wake. At the same time, you give the machines all the energy they'll ever need by feeding them  _yourself_. Your energy phase lets off a lot of power,  _potent_ power. You had no use for it before, now you do. You fill up every tank, every backup tank, every emergency backup tank to its fullest capacity and then cut off the power to every siphoning device in there.

...Orrrrr more than that. The entire facility goes dark, leaving your eyes and the golden pods as the only source of light.

Your eyes are a little wider than they were before. "Whoops."

Lotor's grey eyes find yours unerringly in the dark. "What  _are_ you?" he breathes in fearful awe.

You pretend not to hear him as you continue to heal the sick Alteans.

**End**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the sake of this fic (or until I can find a way to change it), only certain Alteans are able to shapeshift as an indication of something greater. Of what, will be revealed later on. 
> 
> Also it took me a little while to decide between 'tacheon' and 'tachyon' for the spelling based on their associations, but I ultimately decided on tachyon, because in the show Krolia and Keith get flashes from both the future _and_ the past, so rather than the fictional tacheon, that's paired with the future in Back to the Future, I went with tachyon, an actual theoretical particle that is just said to be faster than light. So, hypothetically, the tachyon can offer glimpses of back and forth in time while the tacheon would only offer a forward look. Again, hypothetical, because I've only really seen scenes of Back to the Future and I still know the delorean can go back _and_ forth in time with the right parameters set, but, for the purpose of this fic,
> 
>  
> 
> _Go with it._
> 
>  
> 
> Also, a cookie for all my fellow Whovians who got the reference! I am _so ready_ for the Lady Doctor, I can't wait!
> 
> The characters of Voltron: Legendary Defender belong to Dreamworks and in no way are mine, I just wanted to borrow them for a bit.
> 
> If you ask me questions I'll babble at you so leave a comment and watch me make a fool of myself. Or you can babble at me on tumblr: https://fantasypunchpunk.tumblr.com/


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